The Deputation
The Deputation is the seventeenth episode of the second season. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station episode, Sweet and Sour in 1991. Plot Heavier than normal snow has fallen on the Island of Sodor and while the other engines hate it, Donald and Douglas are used to the conditions and clear the lines. They soon encounter one snow drift which is deeper than the rest and which has nearly buried Henry. They promise to get him out. Henry is rescued and returns to the shed, but both Donald and Douglas are upset. They know the Fat Controller will be returning soon and after destroying a signal box and the Spiteful Brakevan between them, are worried that he will send one or possibly both of them away, which would lead to them being scrapped. The other engines agree that Donald and Douglas both deserve to stay and decide something has to be done. However, no-one can think of what. Percy talks to Edward about the situation and he suggests that the engines nominate someone to talk to the Fat Controller, a deputation. Percy relays this to the others that they need a "disputation" and they agree to this. After a long silence, Gordon nominates a horrified Percy to do the job. The Fat Controller returns and a nervous Percy stammers through his speech about allowing the twins to stay. The Fat Controller catches on that Percy is a deputation and tells him he understands. Later in the sheds, the Fat Controller responds to the engines' request. After informing them, although he understands their feelings, he does not appreciate them interfering in his decision making. He then surprises everyone by awarding Donald and Douglas, as a result of their good work in the snow, with new coats of paint and their names painted on them and warns them that he does not want to see any more mistakes. The engines realise that the Fat Controller is allowing both twins to stay and overjoyed, drown out the rest of his speech with happy whistles. Characters * Edward * Henry * Gordon * James * Percy * Duck * Donald and Douglas * Sir Topham Hatt * Bertie (cameo) * The Spiteful Brake Van (mentioned) Locations * Tidmouth Sheds * Suddery Castle * Tidmouth * The Watermill * Wellsworth Trivia * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, The Twin Engines. * A pre-filmed deleted scene from Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree is used - the viewer can tell because in the first shot, greenery appears in the snow in the top left corner. * This marks the first time the works unit coach is used without the Breakdown Train. * The "Chorus of Whistles" at the end of the episode is re-used in "Paint Pots and Queens" and "Thomas and the Special Letter". Goofs * When Donald and Douglas leave the yard back-to-back, a truck is being derailed. * Gordon's right buffer is bent when he says "A lot of nonsense about a broken signal box". * When James remarks about the Spiteful Brakevan, there appears to be a spot of paint above his right eye (viewer perspective). * When Percy reverses to tell the engines about a deputation, the track in front of him bounces upward. * During the long silence, Douglas' tender is derailed. * Gordon and Percy's eyes are off-centre for the majority of the episode. * When the engines whistle, one of the twins is missing an eyebrow and James' eyes stop rolling. * Sir Topham Hatt says that their names would be painted on, but they instead received nameplates. * Donald and Douglas are seen with nameplates in a few scenes. In the scene where the twins rescue Henry, Donald has his on one side, but not on the other. * To the left of the watermill, there is green grass that is not covered in snow. * One of the twins does not have his snowplough on in the opening scene. * It is said that Donald and Douglas had a van between their tenders, but they actually had a coach. * During the long silence, Percy's cab roof is lifted at the back. * After the long silence, Percy's eyes are wonky. * The captions with the Amazon Video release mistakenly refer to Henry as James when he cries for help while stuck in the snowbank at the beginning of the episode. Merchandise * Motor Road and Rail - Donald and Douglas Snowplough set (Japan only; discontinued) * My Thomas Story Library - Donald and Douglas (discontinued) In Other Languages Home Media Releases Gallery File:TheDeputation1986titlecard.png|Original UK title card File:TheDeputationremasteredtitlecard.png|Remastered title card File:TheDeputationrestoredtitlecard.png|Restored title card File:TheDeputationUSTitleCard.jpg|US title card File:TheDeputationWelshtitlecard.JPG|Welsh title card File:TheDeputationSpanishTitleCard.JPG|Spanish title card File:TheDeputationKoreanTitleCard.PNG|Korean title card File:TheDeputationJapaneseTitleCard.png|Japanese title card File:TheDeputationFinnishTitleCard.png|Finnish title card File:TheDeputationGermantitlecard.jpg|German title card File:TheDeputationUkrainianTitleCard.jpg|Ukrainian title card File:TheDeputation1.png File:TheDeputation2.png|Donald File:TheDeputation3.png File:TheDeputation4.png|Duck and Donald File:TheDeputation6.png|Gordon File:TheDeputation7.png|Gordon, James and Percy File:TheDeputation8.png|Henry in the snowbank File:TheDeputation9.png|Percy and Edward File:TheDeputation10.png File:TheDeputation11.png File:TheDeputation12.png|The Fat Controller File:TheDeputation13.jpg File:TheDeputation14.jpg File:TheDeputation15.jpg File:TheDeputation16.jpg|Donald and Douglas File:TheDeputation17.jpg File:TheDeputation18.png File:TheDeputation19.png File:TheDeputation20.png File:TheDeputation21.png File:TheDeputation22.png|Percy File:TheDeputation23.png|Edward File:TheDeputation24.png File:TheDeputation25.png File:TheDeputation26.png|Percy and Henry File:TheDeputation27.png File:TheDeputation28.png File:TheDeputation29.png File:TheDeputation30.png File:TheDeputation31.png File:TheDeputation32.png File:TheDeputation33.png File:TheDeputation34.png File:TheDeputation35.png File:TheDeputation36.JPG File:TheDeputation37.jpg File:TheDeputation38.png File:TheDeputation39.png File:TheDeputation40.png File:TheDeputation41.png|James File:TheDeputation42.png File:TheDeputation43.png File:TheDeputation44.png File:TheDeputation45.png File:TheDeputation46.png File:TheDeputation47.png File:TheDeputation48.png File:TheDeputation49.png|Douglas and Donald at the Watermill File:TheDeputation50.png Merchandise Gallery File:DonaldandDouglasSnowploughset.jpg|Donald and Douglas Snowplough set File:MyThomasStoryLibraryDonaldandDouglas.png|2003 Story Library Book File:DonaldandDouglas2011StoryLibrarybook.jpg|2011 Story Library Book File:MyThomasStoryLibraryBookDonaldandDouglasGreekCover.jpeg|Greek Book File:MyThomasStoryLibraryDonaldandDouglasPolishCover.jpeg|Polish Book Episode File:The Deputation - British Narration|UK Narration File:The Deputation - American Narration|US Narration Category:Season 2 episodes Category:Episodes Category:Episode adaptations